FOR the first time, World Islamic Tourism Mart (WITM) and Malaysia International Tourism Exchange (MITE) will be integrated as a four-day event from June 6-9 at Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

Jointly organised by Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) and My Events International, WITM will focus on Muslim tourism while MITE will feature general tourism.

WITM-MITE 2013 will feature a B2B travel exchange and an international conference – including a half-day meeting between ministers and government representatives to discuss the future of Islamic travel – on June 6 and 7, followed by a consumer fair on June 8. In total, 500 buyers will be invited for the travel exchange and there will be 415 booths.

MATTA president, Mohd Khalid Harun, said: “Having two separate events at separate venues on the same dates last year saw exhibitors having to choose which event to exhibit in as they lacked resources to attend both shows. Buyers from abroad also faced the same problem.

“Tourism minister, Ng Yen Yen, also saw the importance of WITM and MITE, and since both are about travel, she asked us to work with My Events International and have the two events combined. This year, the (combined) impact will be stronger.”

From this year onwards, WITM-MITE will be an integrated event in Malaysia held annually in June, unless WITM is organised outside Malaysia, according to Khalid.

He said: “MATTA owns WITM. We have plans to take it global but this depends on how soon other countries bid to host it. By taking this event overseas, it will give an opportunity for other countries to showcase their tourism offerings and it will also give MATTA a business opportunity.”

Last year, the inaugural WITM was organised by MATTA at Putra World Trade Centre from May 31 to June 2, while the inaugural MITE was organised by My Events International at Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang from May 31 to June 3.

WITH an eye on China’s burgeoning outbound tourism, Hotelbeds has acquired JBS, a US-based company dedicated to the Chinese accommodation wholesaler market.

Established in 2001 by Chinese-born US residents Juliann Meng, Barbara Ansel and Sarah Gao, JBS works with China-based tour operators and travel consultants as well as DMCs active in incoming tourism from China.

Hotelbeds and JBS will build on relationships with tour operators and travel distributors in China to drive more business to all destinations in the US, including maximising and increasing the partnerships both companies have with hotels and destination services providers.

Javier Arevalo, regional managing director, Hotelbeds Americas, said: “JBS is a well-respected company that has built up a strong position in the ‘China to US’ market. We are delighted that they are now working with us to maximise the opportunities between both markets.”

Juliann Meng of JBS Group added: “The Chinese market is growing rapidly, and many destinations in the US will see the benefit from this as the market grows and matures.”

The US has become an increasingly important destination for Chinese travellers, which currently represent about five per cent of total US inbound tourist expenditure and is expected to grow at a rate of over 25 per cent per year in the next five years.

HOLIDAY Inn Express Phuket Patong Beach Central has opened its doors, marking the brand’s first property on Phuket and second in Thailand following the launch of Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Siam last year (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 20, 2012).

“Today’s savvy traveller is looking for quality accommodation in a prime location, and Holiday Inn Express offers the most important elements guests look for in a hotel without the frills”, said Jonathan Mills, head of operations, Holiday Inn Express and IHG Shared Services Asia Australasia.

He added: “This is the formula of the brand’s success across the world and we are confident that the Holiday Inn Express Phuket Patong Beach Central is well-poised to meet the demands of this growing segment in one of Thailand’s most popular leisure destinations.”

Located on Patong Beach, the 277-room hotel features guestrooms equipped with a three-head massage showerhead, high-quality bedding with 200-thread count sheets and duvet, a choice of soft and firm pillows, a 32-inch LCD TV, as well as in-room work space.

Hotel facilities include a compact meeting room, a self-service business centre, a 24-hour fitness room, a swimming pool, a self-service laundry room, vending machines and takeaway services. All guests are entitled to offerings such as free breakfast buffet and Wi-Fi Internet throughout the property.

To celebrate its launch, Holiday Inn Express Phuket Patong Beach Central is offering a special opening rate from 1,999++ baht (US$67++) per night for stays until October 31, 2013.

ONLINE luxury travel flash sales site ImpulseFlyer has launched the ImpulseFlyer Collection, a selection of luxury and boutique hotels in the Asia-Pacific region, bookable by members all year round.

The members-only site plans to offer over 100 properties by the end of the quarter.

ImpulseFlyer has also introduced VIP membership, which allows premium members exclusive access to perks and benefits at the properties in the Collection, and also private flash sales.

To obtain VIP membership, ImpulseFlyer members must either make a booking at one of the Collection hotels or be invited to the site by an existing VIP member.

CEO, Steven Gong, said: “ImpulseFlyer helps to connect the most discerning travellers with hand-picked luxury hotels and resorts in the region. With a focus on curating only the most amazing hotels, we take out the research and guesswork needed by luxury travellers when deciding where they want to stay on holiday, at the same time giving hotels reach to their target markets.”

PATIENTS from neighbouring Asian countries now make up the top five nationalities of medical tourists in Singapore instead of Americans and Britons, as growth in their home economies outstrip developments in healthcare.

According to local broadsheet The Straits Times, the number of foreign patients seeking medical treatment is on the rise again after waning in 2009 due to the global financial crisis.

According to statistics from Singapore’s Ministry of Health and the Singapore Tourism Board, a total of 35,959 medical tourists visited the city-state in 2011 and spent almost S$1 billion (US$806.9 million), an increase over the two previous years.

Indonesians accounted for 47.2 per cent of these tourists, with Malaysians a distant second at 11.5 per cent, followed by Bangladeshis (five per cent), Vietnamese (4.1 per cent) and Myanmar nationals (2.7 per cent).

The majority of medical tourists opt for treatment at private hospitals, where procedures can be less costly as foreigners are not subsidised at public ones, said The Straits Times. Statistics show most tourists come for general surgery.

Healthcare experts interviewed by the paper said that while US and UK citizens used to travel to Singapore for cheap medical services, lower prices in Thailand, Malaysia and India are now posing strong competition.

A FOUR Points by Sheraton survey has found Asia’s road warriors are the friendliest, with Indian and Chinese business travellers more likely to share a flight with a co-worker, keep in touch with a contact made on the road and hang out with colleagues in their free time.

According to the study, the majority of business travellers (61.1 per cent) globally preferred not to share a flight with their colleague, compared to 50.5 per cent among the Chinese. Some 70 per cent of Chinese business travellers also stay in touch with someone they have met on the road, compared to the overall figure of 64.4 per cent.

Indian business travellers are the most likely to hang out with colleagues at a bar or restaurant (61.1 per cent), and were also inclined to catching up with friends who live in town (52.6 per cent).

Overall, 42.9 per cent of business travellers polled said that aside from sleeping, socialising with colleagues at a bar or restaurant during their free time was the activity that took up most of their time in a hotel. In comparison, 39 per cent sweat it out at the gym, 37.5 per cent unwind at the spa and 34.2 per cent indulge in retail therapy.

“Business travellers have a real need to connect on the road – both virtually and in person,” said Brian McGuinness, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide’s senior vice president, specialty select brands.

“Our survey results reveal that road warriors are social, preferring to network or to relax in the company of colleagues rather than just enjoying solitary pursuits.”

The 2012 hotel business travel study commissioned by Four Points surveyed 6,000 business travellers from the US, the UK, China, India, Germany and Brazil.

POPULAR leisure attraction Sunway Lagoon Theme Park in Petaling Jaya is on a drive to attract more meetings, incentives and events by going direct to corporate clients.

Its renewed push to increase awareness includes reaching out to corporate clients via specialist magazines, social media platforms such as Facebook and its own upgraded website, which will feature a special meetings, incentives and events page when completed in the second quarter.

The park’s corporate clients come mainly from Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore is its biggest overseas market. This year, Sunway Lagoon aims to bag more Singapore MICE through sales calls and participation at ITB Asia for the first time.

Bill Holman, consultant/director at Sunway Lagoon Theme Park, revealed that MICE currently makes up about 10 per cent of the park’s business, while leisure tourists account for the remaining 90 per cent.

He said Sunway Lagoon has been moving towards MICE to maximise its assets.

“It is the direction all theme parks are going in. We also have two hotels in the vicinity, which makes it easier to promote (Sunway Lagoon) to corporate clients,” he said, referring to the 441-room Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa and 534-room Sunway Pyramid Hotel.

The park plans to expand its offerings with a new water park and dry park built on the 3.4 hectares of land between the amphitheatre and Extreme Park, scheduled for completion by end-2014.

The new attractions will increase the number of rides and attractions from 80 to 100, said Holman, who added that there were plans to bring in an international brand.

LOCAL and foreign travel consultants alike can now secure permits to visit the Puerto Princesa underground river through a new automated online booking system.

Launched by the Philippines’ Department of Tourism and the City Government of Puerto Princesa, the system was developed to smoothen the permit application process, which had caused much confusion due to soaring visitor numbers and the quota on permits for environmental reasons.

Puerto Princesa has witnessed a 45 per cent jump in tourism arrivals since 2011 after the underground river was declared one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

TRAVEL metasearch engine Wego is bulking up operations in India with the opening of its new and larger Bengaluru office in Indiranagar, and plans to double its employee headcount in the country this year.

Wego.in, launched in May 2012, has seen traffic to the site triple and revenue increase by 446 per cent, according to its press release. The site allows searches to be conducted in 11 national languages such as Bengali, Gujarati and Telugu.

“Over the past three months, our site has registered an increase in local language searches, with Bengali and Malayalam showing over 50 per cent increase in site usage, closely followed by Oriya and Urdu,” said Jackson Fernandez, general manager, Wego India.

“The site’s customised language and content has proved a worthy investment, meeting a clear demand for users not previously able to access search technology in their first language. Wego’s convenience and simplicity has also been noticed, and increasingly used, by international corporate travellers which have shown tremendous growth,” he added.

Earlier this month, Wego also established a headquarters in Dubai to service the Middle East and North Africa markets (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 7, 2013) as part of the company’s global expansion strategy. It is also in the midst of moving its Singapore head office to larger premises.

UNIVERSAL Studios Singapore (USS) will strengthen its Sesame Street experience with the world’s first immersive Sesame Street-themed indoor ride to open on March 1, 2013.

The science fiction-inspired ride will feature 12 characters from Sesame Street, including three brand new characters created exclusively for this ride: Macaroni the Merciless and his partners-in-crime, Zester and Shredder.

Also newly launched is a Sesame Street Character Breakfast at Loui’s NY Pizza Parlor, allowing early bird guests to start the day with Sesame Street characters and be among the first to board the ride before the park opens. Starting at 09.00 on weekends and selected holidays, tickets are priced at S$44 (US$35.50) for adults and S$32 for children. Guests must have a valid admission day-pass and then separately purchase the breakfast.

To celebrate the launch of Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase, USS will host a special Sesame Street Carnival between March 1 and 3, transforming the park’s New York zone into an extension of Sesame Street. Festivities include giant board games along the street and character meet-and-greets.

USS began staging live Sesame Street shows daily along New York Street in May 2012. Other Sesame Street-related offerings include Big Bird’s Emporium, a retail store and aSesame Street school bus with park-exclusive merchandise.

* Our article initially stated that the Sesame Street Character Breakfast price included admission to USS, which was factually incorrect and has been amended.